Hear That Sound? That’s a Jackhammer!

If all goes well, then when this post goes live, I will have workmen in my backyard, ripping out our patio in preparation for putting down a fresh foundation for our home addition. We thought it was going to start last week, but our GC’s concrete guy got backlogged and was not able to come out until today.

Our work with the kitchen designer was very successful and we only went through seven drafts before it became finalized. That sounds like a lot, but the drafts were essentially the same, but with minor tweaks here and there. In the end, this is what we ended up with:

The New Cootie Kitchen (click to see larger version)

Isn’t it lovely? Of course, I know I haven’t shown a picture of the current kitchen layout – we’re saving that for the “before/after” post we hope to do in a few months. Once we finalized this layout, we placed the order. The cabinets will be white, with a very simply doorfront.

Our new cabinet style!

I was thrilled that we were able to come in $1,800 UNDER the budget I had alloted for the cabinets. With any luck the cabinets will be delivered sometime in mid-September. I also found a great deal on a new standalone, wall-mounted range hood to replace way-too-small-and-inefficient range hood we have now.

We’re hoping to pick up our wall ovens sometime this weekend, and I also hope we’ll have some time to go pick out the backsplash tile we want to go install over the stovetop area and up behind the range hood. We already know the look and style we want – it’s just a matter of colormatching to our New Venetian Gold granite countertops so it doesn’t clash.

This is the style we want:

Photo found somewhere on BHG.com

Once that decision is finalized, we’ll try to decide on flooring. I’m debating between tile and hardwood. My mom made a good point that tiles can be hard on the feet, so while I still think tile would LOOK better, I’m leaning toward bamboo flooring if I can find the right deep, dark tone. I like white cabinets with dark floors, so that’s my goal.

And that’s where we are. Hopefully by tonight I’ll have a beautiful new foundation taking shape in my backyard, with a new patio poured just next to it. And this means that sometime in the near future we’ll need to start packing up our kitchen so that we are ready when it comes time to demo the existing space and get it ready for the new to come!

I guess I should start bringing boxes home from work again.